Bhiwadi is the boomtown in the desert

DELHI: Bhiwadi, a typical Tier II city, promises value for money to investors and end users alike. The town is adequately equipped to handle the huge demand for affordable housing, coming from the work force employed in various industries here.

This area, which is one of the established industrial destinations, has successfully repositioned itself as an affordable-housing destination in the region. The market trend indicates that over the next three-four years, this region will see major changes in its socio-economic profile.

Bhiwadi, in Rajasthan, has been identified as the next boom town of the NCR. Bhiwadi sub-region has been playing a major role in the economic development of Rajasthan. It has around 2,500 tiny, small, medium, and large industries, including MNCs, manufacturing various types of products.

Bhiwadi now has a population of 1,04,883 compared to only 33,831 in 2001; the reason is, though Bhiwadi started off as an industrial area, it has become a large residential town in the last few years.

Residential property in Bhiwadi is available in the price range of Rs 2,500-3,200 per sq. ft. As the town is on NH-8, it has helped the city develop tremendouslyremember, the growth of Gurgaon has a lot to do with a national highway.

The fast-paced infrastructural development and strategic location have helped in attracting industries into the area, thereby creating a lot of employment avenues, and the inevitable housing demand.

The Dharuhera-Bhiwadi bypass road has made commuting easy from Delhi, Gurgaon, and Jaipur. Further, a rapid transport system has been planned near Kotkasim, apart from a bullet train service between Delhi and Neemrana. Also, Rajasthan may soon see two new airports, one in Neemrana and other in Jodhpur, while the international airport at Jaipur may be upgraded.

The 1,483km-long Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), and the relevant National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) along it, has given a fresh impetus to the developments in Bhiwadi. This has raised the demand for housing in the area. The large-scale floating population in Bhiwadi travels to work at several industrial units and corporate offices in the region, including Gurgaon and Manesar. Also, the rise of nuclear families with disposable income has raised demand for residential units in the region.

Existing and forthcoming industries by Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation Ltd (RIICO) and other large-scale industrial units like Shree Cement, Nahar Group of Industries, Honda Siel, etc, are expected to generate high demand for residential and retail developments along the entire corridor. Since a number of realty projects are located along Bhiwadi-AlwarRoad, which is to be upgraded to a six-lane mega-highway corridor, the site is likely to attract catchments from adjoining towns due to its better connectivity with other neighboring areas.

Navin Raheja, chairman of Naredco, says: “About 56% of housing shortage was in the economically weaker section (EWS) category, at 10.5 million, followed by 39.5% in the low-income group (LIG), at 7.4 million-and just 4.3% in the mid-income group (MIG). Despite the statistics pointing to massive demand, developers do not find low-cost housing attractive enough due to the high land costs and low floor-space index (FSI), leading to low margins. About 60% of the shortage is estimated in seven states-Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan.”

Bangalore-based VBHC (Value & Budget Housing Corporation) is developing a residential township on 22.5 acres here-the project will have affordable apartments and plots. Vivek Singh, regional business head, NCR, of VBHC, says: “In an effort to bridge the extensive deficit in affordable housing in India, VBHC proposes to build 1 million houses in the next 10 years. Our project here enjoys a locational advantage, being located along the 200ft-wide Bhiwadi-Alwar Road, the growth corridor of the city; it is in close proximity to the forthcoming organized residential and retail mall developments along this corridor. It enjoys good inter-city and intra-city connectivity, making it easily accessible and well connected.”

Omaxe Ltd has two township projects in Bhiwadi, Omaxe Panorama City and Omaxe Green Meadow City, which offer plots, villas, floors, group housing, duplex, and studio units in various sizes. Both township projects are nearly complete. The sizes of plots is 100-225 sq yards in Omaxe Panorama City (formerly Omaxe City I), enabling buyers to build homes according to their requirement. Omaxe Panorama City is an integrated township, 5km from Delhi-Jaipur Highway on the Dharuhera-Sohna Road. Since Bhiwadi has a bustling industrial base, Panorama City-with its budget homes, stunning villas, plots, and New Age facilities-is a good opportunity for the professionals working here to own a home in the township.

Mohit Goyal, CEO of Omaxe Ltd, says: “Location has always played a key role in the development of Bhiwadi. Its proximity to Delhi and Gurgaon and its strategic location on NH-8 has helped Bhiwadi emerge as a favourite destination for real estate development. Besides, availability of large tracts of land at lower prices has helped in the emergence of low-cost housing in the region.”

Ashiana Housing has recently launched its largest township project, Ashiana Town, in Thara, Bhiwadi. The project obtained non-residential clearance under section 90A of Rajasthan Land Revenue Act in February 2013. Ashiana Town is over 51.45 acres and has a saleable area of nearly 39 lakh sq ft. Positioned at a prime location, on Alwar bypass road, the project offers 4,000 units and is well planned and equipped with facilities and features for a modern comfortable living.

Vishal Gupta, MD of Ashiana Housing Ltd, says: “With the current infrastructural developments in and around the area, and with industrial giants setting up base in Bhiwadi, the city is registering a tremendous demand in housing-thousands of people have migrated from across India to this city in recent times. Sensing the immense housing requirement and the opportunity it provides us, we made it our goal to fulfil this necessity. Thus, we are coming up with our largest ever township projects in Bhiwadi.”

Avalon group is coming with a new residential project, Avalon Rosewood, in Bhiwadi. Avalon Rosewood is located on the four-lane mega-highway, and on a 40-minute drive from the IGI airport; the project offers 1,350 residential units over 17 acres, at an estimated project cost of Rs 300 crore. Avalon Rosewood will have around 23 towers-each ground plus 14 storeys-offering 2-, 3-, and 4BHK units. There will be 900 flats in the 2BHK segment, 360 flats in the 3BHK segment, and 90 flats in the 4BHK segment, all by Sikka Developers. The base price is around Rs 2,850 per sq ft, and onwards. The company has obtained all the mandatory approvals and hopes to finish the construction in around four years, a spokesman of the firm said.

Ajay Singal, director of Avalon Group, says: “The strong demand from end users employed in over 2,500 industries here has made this area a thriving residential hub. We have launched Avalon Rangoli with an aim to provide quality housing to this work force. The project has 2- and 3BHK apartments of 1,000-1,300 sq ft. The project is opposite the 400-acre complex of Honda Cars and Honda Scooters on the main Alwar bypass road.”

Commercial demand up: Bhiwadi offers great returns on investment in commercial property due to its locational advantage. Mall culture is picking up here and several new malls and office space is coming up in the town, like, Capital Mall by R-Tech Developers, Village Mall by Ashiana group, Parsvnath City Centre from Parsvnath, Genesis Mall by Genesis Infratech, Avalon Galleria, Avalon Plaza by Avalon Group, Spectrum by BDI Group, Optus Hometel by Optus Group, and BB Mall & BB Square by Jagriti Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.

Industrial set-up: Bhiwadi is home to numerous global industries including in the automobile, pharmaceutical, cable, electrical appliance, garment, beverage sectors-spread over 10,000 acres.

DELHI: In order to meet the significant increase in demand for premium office spaces, serviced offices and meeting rooms, Vatika Business Centre is coming up with two new business centres. One is in the heart of New Delhi at Connaught Place, and the other is Divyashree Omega in the High Tech city of Hyderabad.

DELHI: Average housing price inched up by a meagre 0.89 per cent during first quarter of current fiscal, although property rates were nearly 14 per cent higher from year-ago levels, an RBI report said.

DELHI: As many as 29 special economic zone developers including Tata Consultancy ServicesBSE -0.12 %, Parsvnath Infra and Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd have sought more time from the government for implementing their projects. The inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA) chaired by Commerce Secretary S R Rao will consider these requests at its meeting on November 8.

DELHI: The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has finalised the Cabinet note on relaxing norms for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the construction development sector and hopes to place it before the Cabinet next week.

DELHI: Plot owners in Udyog Vihar have renewed their efforts to get the state to impose a revision on the controversial property norms of the industrial area. The local association on October 23 lashed out at the industry authority HSIIDC, calling the latter’s demand for a special fee for transfer or leasing of plots illegitimate.

DELHI: Areas along NH-24—the region in the vicinity of trans-Hindon areas of Ghaziabad, Noida, and Greater Noida—have become a favoured destination for realty development with buyers flocking to the area for their affordable-range housing options. Even development authorities like the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA), the UP Awas Vikas Parishad, and Municipal Corporation of Ghaziabad have shown keen interest in developing the region and position it as an ideal residential destination.

DELHI: Housing sales have risen by 18 per cent in the Delhi-NCR region during the first half of this year at 35,000 units, showing signs of improvement in the property market that has been facing slowdown in demand.